AWF Iceland Days 9-10

Day 9 was our last official training day of the trip because
day 10 would be spent mostly on the bus driving the 6+ hours back to
Reykjavik.Everyone was feeling
decently recovered from the run a few days before, at least enough to pull the
barbells out and throw some weight around.We set up shop in the dirt parking lot just outside the ski
lodge, putting our feet towards the long canyon overlooking the fjord.We could see the swamp soccer
tournament already beginning off in the distance and used it as motivation to
intimidate our opponents.Not sure
if that happened or not, but it was fun to imagine them looking up at 26 crazy
people with their shirts off dropping weights and screaming and wonder what
they must think.

More than a few people PR’d during the pressing portion… I
was not one of them.I only made
it to 80 kg before tapping out.By
far the best part of this workout was watching everyone grit their way through
the AMRAP jerks.By the end of
each set you can barely keep the bar in a front rack, let alone stabilize it
overhead, but people kept trying.I was forced to start dropping into full depth split jerks at 135#, just
to give you an idea of the muscle fatigue that was happening.As we were putting the weights away and
heading down to the soccer fields, I felt like I had just done an old school
chest and tri’s superset back in the day.Everything was so full of blood and pumped out that we must’ve looked
like the biggest bunch of muscle heads to the rest of the teams.

But soon the beer started flowing and all auspices of
fitness and health were long forgotten.All there was in the world at that moment was mud, soccer, and
winning.It’s a funny thing to
watch people transform under the influence of team sports.And let me be clear, this was not your
average soccer match.The mud was knee
deep at the shallowest, the field was only 30 yards long, and physical contact
was strongly encouraged.People
were flat out tackling each other, then trying
to kick the ball.There were
scrums, melees, and mud flung in faces.The requirements of the game were hard core, and with alcohol as an aid,
people weren’t holding back.At
the same time, putting out so much effort in what was essentially quicksand is
downright exhausting.You’re good
for maybe 1- 2 minutes of decently functional time before you need to get a
sub.Otherwise your dead tired ass
is just a liability.

Our group was divided into 2 teams, men and women.Our men’s team had the advantage of
numbers, giving us more reserve players than our women.Unfortunately for them, this was the
way our demographics worked out and they just had to work a little harder.The first game was definitely a
learning experience with a few key takeaways: 1) socks and shoes do not work in
deep mud.You either go barefoot
and lace the shoes up as tight as possible or you ditch the shoes entirely and
get caveman on it.2) two people
need to stay up on offense while the other 4 fight like hell on defense and get
constantly rotated.3) you must
obstruct the goalie.4) hit first,
then kick.Picking up these bits
of strategic wisdom along the way, we went from a 0-0 tie our first game to a
2-0 victory the second and a 2-2 tie in the 3rd (a last second
miracle goal from being a 2-1 win).This was enough for us to win our heat and set up a good draw for the
following days championship rounds.

Unfortunately (or fortunately) we were heading home early
the next day so we had to forfeit our placing.Not that anyone really cared much, the day itself had been
worth the time and effort in spades.Imagine being caked in some dried, some still dripping mud from head to
toe, so much so that you can’t see a dot of clean skin anywhere on your
body.Now imagine 1000 people like
that in one place.Then add beer,
music, and costumes.It was pretty
unreal. Later that night we headed
downtown for a bonfire and fireworks with the rest of the town.There was live music playing at a few
of the local pubs and a few in our group didn’t make it back to the lodge til
well past 5 am.Not a problem when
you have 6 hours on a bus the next day to sleep it off.

When we made it back to Reykjavik Sunday night, we all went
out for one last dinner together.There was constant chatter and laughter about the things that had
happened the past 10 days, but also a sense of sadness that this group that had
grown so close would have to leave each other the following morning.I overheard a few say they were ready
to book their tickets for the Buenos Aires trip in 6 months that night!From my perspective, I couldn’t have
been happier with how this trip turned out.The personalities that came together were so complimentary to
each other that everything seemed easy.The things we saw and did were always connected by elements of challenge
and beauty, perhaps the two most insoluble qualities that Iceland
represents.The success here for a
second year offers nothing but promise for the future of these adventures, a
future that begins in less that 2 weeks when a new group will land in
Munich.For those of you who made
this trip possible, thank you!For
those who want to be a part of the next one, you won’t be disappointed.

2 comments:

"Everything was so full of blood and pumped out that we must’ve looked like the biggest bunch of muscle heads to the rest of the teams." ---> I seem to recall a direct quote from an opposing team member, "Why do you guys all look like he-man?!"